Fostering a Faker
by ZahlzStar
Summary: I saw a prompt on Tumblr and decided I'd roll with it. A Faking It AU based on The Fosters. Amy is Callie, Karma is Brandon, Lauren is Jude, you get the idea. I hope I didn't butcher the idea, but anyway enjoy.
1. Chapter 1

My entire body aches and I don't have it in me to smile right now; hell, I'm trying hard not to break down right here on the asphalt. The woman in front of me has a look of sympathy, yet at the same time she carries an underlying tone of caution. As she talks to the guy that is filling in for my social worker I scan my surroundings and contemplate the easiest offense I could commit right now that would land me back in the suffocating, but ultimately stable juvie cell I had become accustomed to. I can't be that selfish though, I have to leave this place and find Lauren; I can't let her down again.

"Amy, this is Penelope. She's agreed to look after you until we can sort out somewhere better to place you." The guy, I think his name is Jeff, says and the woman, who I'm guessing is Penelope, gives me a polite smile.

"When can I see Lauren?" I completely disregard what Jeff just said, my thoughts solely on Lauren. Jeff looks uncomfortable for a moment but he sends Penelope a reassuring smile and turns his attention to me.

"Given your history, your foster father has informed us he doesn't want you around Lauren. Unfortunately, we are inclined to agree that it is best if you don't see her until you are in a more stable position,"

"I don't give a damn, what _he_ wants. I need to see Lauren, I need to know that she is okay," I reply angrily, refusing to let that bastard keep her away from me.

"I can assure you that she is perfectly fine, now please cooperate so we can focus on getting you placed as soon as possible," Jeff responds and I see Penelope shift uncomfortably.

"How about we get you back to the house and settled in, and then we can talk about the heavier stuff?" Penelope asks with kind, hopeful smile.

I don't respond, instead shifting the weight of my bag on my shoulder. Pain shoots up my side when I settle the bag wrong and the full weight of it hits the ever darkening bruise on my torso. They couldn't just let me leave in peace, no, those girls just had to get one last laugh in; one last beating for the road.

I tense my jaw with as much force as I can muster to hide the pain, but it only adds pressure to my bruised cheek and pulls at my busted lip. My eyes water and I remain silent, watching as Penelope faces softens in what is likely to be pity. I probably look like some little, wounded puppy that couldn't possibly look after itself.

The car ride to Penelope's house is awkward and the conversation is entirely one sided as she attempts small talk but I resign myself to staring out the window wondering how my life got to this point. After a while we pull up to a modest but nice looking house and Penelope gives me a reassuring smile before gesturing towards the house,

"Come on, I'm sure the twins would love to meet you,"

I tighten my grip on the strap of my bag but follow Penelope up the front steps and into the house.

"Shane, Soleil, there is someone here I want you to meet!" Penelope calls out once she enters the house and I hear the thudding of people making their way down the stairs. Before long a dark haired boy and girl stand before me with curious looks on their face, they can't be any older than 15 and it's easy to see that they are the twins Penelope was referring to earlier. Penelope points to Shane and Soleil each respectively and introduces them but I already had a good indication as to who was who.

"Who's this?" Shane asks, tilting his head to the side a little.

"This is Amy, she's going to be staying with us for a little while," Penelope replies and I shift my weight, uncomfortable at the new found attention.

"How long will she be staying?" Soleil asks and Penelope looks conflicted.

"We're not sure yet,"

"What happened to your face?" Shane addresses me directly this time.

"She was beaten up by a few of the girls at the detention centre," Penelope senses that I don't want to answer and responds for me.

"You were in juvie? What did you do?" Soleil asks in surprise but Penelope cuts in again.

"There will be plenty of time for questions later, for now we need to get her settled in. If you'll follow me Amy, I'll show you where you can put your things down,"

I glance towards Shane and Soleil with an attempt of a smile that probably looks more like a grimace and follow after Penelope.

"Do you mind if I use the bathroom?" I ask after dropping my backpack on the couch where I'll be sleeping.

"Yeah, of course you can," Penelope replies and gives me directions.

Moving as quickly as I could without causing alarm I locate the bathroom and as soon as I enter the room I collapse back against the door. Everything that I have been holding in erupts from me as the tears begin to fall, I try to quiet my sobs and control my breathing but it's just too much right now. Hopefully Penelope doesn't hear me, I'm sure she would be understanding but I don't think I can deal with her trying to help me right now. My mind wanders to Lauren and even though it just makes me want to cry more I pull myself together and reluctantly climb to my feet, walking over to the sink to wash my face. By the time I walk out of the bathroom I follow the sound of people and find Shane, Soleil and Penelope setting out plates and preparing dinner. Soleil catches sight of me and enthusiastically pats the place across from her and I give her a weak smile before sitting down.

We are all about to start eating when we hear the sound of the door opening and shutting before an auburn-haired girl that looks about my age walks into the kitchen and sits down.

"Hey, how did the audition go?" Penelope asks and the girl grins like the Cheshire Cat.

"The guy really liked my song; he wants to put it in the showcase,"

"Are you kidding? That's amazing," Penelope replies in praise and the girl finally notices my presence.

"Who's this?" She asks curiously and Penelope is quick to answer,

"This is Amy; she will be staying with us for a little while,"

"Oh cool, I'm Karma," The girl smiles at me and hands me a bowl. I smile at Karma as I take the bowl from her but another woman walks through the door and kisses Penelope.

"Molly, excellent timing. This is," Penelope begins to introduce me but against my better judgement I interrupt.

"You're gay?" Penelope looks startled for a second but quickly recovers.

"Yes, is that going to be a problem?" She asks in a serious tone.

I stick out my bottom lip a little and shake my head, "Nope," before returning my attention back to my food.

Molly is clearly still out of the loop before she laughs somewhat uncomfortably before asking, "Sweetie, who's this?"

_**So there we go guys, I hope I didn't butcher anything too badly. I didn't want to be identical with The Fosters but I wanted to stick to the basic plot line for the pilot. I haven't technically brought Lauren in just yet but I will say this now anyway, for storytelling purposes I'm changing Lauren's age so that she is a couple years younger than everyone else. She will probably have an attitude that is similar to Jude but as the story progresses I'll bring normal Lauren's attitude into it a little more. Anyway, I hope you guys don't hate it. -Zahli **_


	2. Chapter 2

Everyone is staring, it's actually incredibly concerning to know that this many teenagers have nothing better to do than stare at the new girl.

"So I kinda need to go, are you going to be okay finding your way around?" Karma asks, already getting ready to leave.

"Uh, yeah sure I'll be fine," I reply quickly but once Karma turns to leave I see even more people staring.

"Wait, Karma!" I call out and she stops and turns back towards me.

"Yeah?" She asks and I try not to sound desperate.

"Can I come and hangout with you?"

"Yeah, sure," Karma replies and I hurry to catch up to her. As Karma led the way my mind kept wandering to thoughts of Lauren. I 'borrowed' Karma's phone last night and called her, but she couldn't speak for very long before our asshole of a foster father caught her so she had to hang up. I chew the side of my bottom lip that isn't busted and try to think of a way that I can see her.

Karma turns into a room ahead of me and when I enter I find that I'm standing in the middle of a music room. Walking to the side of the room Karma picks up a guitar and takes a seat, the ease in which she moves around suggests that she spends a lot of time in here. I look around the room in search of a seat and spot a bench in front of a piano, dropping my bag to the ground I sink onto the bench. Karma fiddles with the guitar and begins to strum a melody.

"It's nice," I say quietly and she looks up at me.

"Yeah, it's the one I played for my audition," Karma replies and goes back to playing.

I turn around to look at the piano in front of me and my fingers itch to play, I give in to the urge and stretch my fingers out on the keys before I begin to play.

"You play?" Karma asks stopping her strumming entirely.

"Yeah, sort of. My dad taught me how to play, before he-," I stop myself, unsure if I want to talk about my dad.

"Before he what?" Karma encourages gently but before I can open my mouth again a boy sneaks up behind Karma and snakes his arms around her waist.

The boy leans over and kisses Karma on the cheek before murmuring, "Good morning Beautiful,"

"Good morning," Karma responds quietly, a smile on her face. The two seem to be off in their own little world and I clear my throat in discomfort.

The boy is the first one to look up, "Who's this, Karms?"

"Oh, this is Amy. She's going to be living with my family for a while," Karma responds and the boy nods in understanding.

"Oh, I'm Liam," Liam introduces himself and holds his hand out.

"Amy," I hesitantly shake his hand but he doesn't seem to take it to offense.

"Anyway Karms, I just stopped in to say hello but I've got to get to class," Liam returns his attention to Karma and I exhale in relief that I'm out of the spotlight once more.

"Shoot, I actually have to get to class as well. Are you ready to go, Amy?" Karma looks at me but I find that it's not quite as uncomfortable when the attention directed at me is Karma's.

"I think I might hang here for a bit," I respond and she nods before long the pair walk out the door after saying goodbye.

Once they are gone I turn around on the bench and run my hands over the keys but after a moment I sigh and close the cover. I have no intention of going to my class; I need to get to Lauren. I don't know how yet but I'll work something out; I have to.

Apparently the students here aren't interested in talking to the new girl with the busted up face, I've tried at least four times now to find out where the closest bus station is. Most are polite about it and quickly make up an excuse to leave, but some just get up and walk away without even a word.

I must look particularly pitiful because I see Soleil approach me and I turn to give her a smile that likely resembles a sad grimace.

"Do you need to get somewhere?" Soleil asks once she is close enough.

"Yeah, I have someone I need to see," I respond, hoping that she won't ask me to elaborate.

"Head out the back way," Soleil points back behind her and I look at her in slight confusion.

"Penelope's office has a lovely view of the front of the school, and if you go out the back way there is a bus stop two blocks from here," Soleil explains and I nod in understanding.

"Thank you," My voice holds sincerity and she gives me a small smile.

"Not a problem, now go; Penelope will start on her rounds of the school ground soon," Soleil urges and I head towards the back of the school.

I'm almost home free but I catch sight of Karma leans up against a tree with Liam hovering over her. _Shit, _in a poor attempt to hide I hold a folder up to block my face as I walk by them but I'm pretty sure Karma saw me.

Hoping she won't follow me I pick up my pace and toss the folder in a nearby trash can, not surprisingly by the time I make it to the board walk behind the school I hear footsteps hurrying to catch up.

"Amy, wait! Where are you going?" Karma calls out to me but I just pick up my pace even more and hope she takes the hint. Unfortunately for me, she does not.

"Leave me alone Karma," I call over my shoulder, not bothering to slow my pace.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me where you are going," Karma responds and reaches out to grab my shoulder and pulls me to a stop.

"Why can't you just mind your own damn business? You, your family, and everyone else at this freaking school," I turn around and snap at her. It's easy to see that Karma is taken back by my words.

"We are just trying to help," Karma responds in a quiet voice and I almost feel bad for yelling at her.

"I don't need your help, I just need to get out of here," My anger dissipates adn I'm left with a feeling of despair, I know I can't do this on my own but I can't let them help me. If I let them help me then I'll owe them, and I can't do that; not this time. Karma doesn't say anything and I turn around to walk away again but I hear her phone ring.

"Uggh, I've been getting calls all day from this number," Karma looks down at her phone but I take it from her before she can decline the call.

"Lauren? Lauren, sweetie, it's me,"

"Amy? Where are you? Are you coming back for me?" Lauren asks in a quiet voice.

"I'm coming to find you Lauren, I promise,"

I hear Lauren let out a gasp and there is a rush of air before a rough voice I know all too well speaks,

"Who the fuck is this?"

"Put Lauren back on the phone," My voice takes on a darker tone as I speak to the man that got me sent to juvie in the first place.

"Amy? What the fuck do you want?" His voice is surprised but still drips with malice.

"I want Lauren, now put her back on the phone," I'm not afraid of him, but I know Lauren is; it's all the more reason I need to get her out of there.

"You listen to me, you stay away from Lauren and you stay away from me or I swear to Christ I'll have you sent back to that cell to rot this time," He hangs up the phone before I can say anything else and I angrily shove the phone back into Karma's hand.

"Amy, who's Lauren? Is she your girlfriend or something?" Karma asks, and grabs my arm before I can turn away again.

"No she's not my girlfriend, she's my sister," I reply and pulls my arm out of her grasp.

"We need to call my mom, she's a cop. She can help us," Karma says, already searching for the number.

"No, no cops. That'll only make things worse,"

Karma nods in understanding but I can tell she isn't going to leave, "Fine, but at least let me help you,"

"Why would you want to help me?" I ask bitterly.

"Why do I need a reason to help you?" Karma's response is simple and sincere and I stop to look at her.

"Fine, I'll tell you where we are going on the way," I tell her before walking away once again, this time Karma is at my side as we head towards the bus stop and hopefully towards Lauren.


End file.
